Changing Perceptions
by HollyFire
Summary: The Doctor and Ace land on a beautiful tropical paradise. Their holiday, though, turns into more than they thought possible.


**_Changing Perceptions__  
_**

**This is the second and most recent 7th Doctor/Ace story I've written. It's also posted over on .  
**

It had all begun normally enough, well normally for her and the Doctor. They had dematerialized on a planet with lush tropical vegetation, sparkling blue oceans and beautiful, warm weather. "Ja' Dule, the perfect place for a bit of a holiday!" the Doctor had stated enthusiastically upon their arrival. Ace had been thrilled. She had run back to her room to change into her bathing suit and to grab all of the essentials needed for a day in a tropical paradise. The Doctor had just chuckled at her exuberance and went to find an interesting book to read and a fold up chair. For the following hour, everything was peaceful. Ace was having fun swimming in the water and floating on the waves, while the Doctor was immersed in his reading.

As Ace was heading back to the beautiful white sandy beach to put more suntan lotion on, she saw a small group of locals appear from the nearby woods walking towards the Doctor's location. "Doctor, we've got company," she called out to him. She only had a few more steps to go until she was out of the water. She hurried as fast as she could to make her way over to the Doctor, who by now had stood up from his chair and was greeting the new arrivals.

"Hello there, I'm the Doctor and over there is my friend, Ace," he replied to the locals' curious and, fortunately, non-threatening gazes.

As Ace walked over to where the Doctor was standing with the locals, she stopped to gather her beach towel to wrap around herself. She thought about quickly looking in her beach bag for her little Swiss army knife, just in case these locals turned hostile and decided to tie them up. She saw, though, that they were glancing in her direction in curiosity. She didn't want to make them nervous by searching in her bag. She wrapped the towel securely around herself as she walked over to stand by the Doctor.

After the Doctor had finished his introduction, he waited patiently for one of the locals to speak. He noticed that the tallest one of the group, who appeared to be the leader, was looking back and forth curiously between the Doctor and Ace, as if trying to figure something out. Then he smiled warmly and said "I am Jular, leader of the Je' Duan village. This is our land and waters, but you are welcome here." He nodded in Ace's direction and, looking back at the Doctor, asked "Is this woman your mate?"

Ace, without stopping to think that the word 'mate' might not mean the same thing as 'friend' in this culture, said "Of course I'm his mate". Then as soon as the words escaped her lips, she realized that she probably shouldn't have assumed the meaning of the word. She quickly looked over at the Doctor, who at first looked surprised by her response, but then realized that Ace must not have thought of the other meaning to the word before answering. He smiled briefly and looked over at Jular, who then said. "I am glad to hear it. If she was not your mate, we would have had to find her one. Tonight is our annual celebration of our most beloved goddess of fertility. Both of you are cordially invited to come back to our village as our honored guests and partake in our celebration."

The Doctor put on his best diplomatic smile and said, "Of course we would be happy to attend. Please lead the way." As Jular and the others turned to go, the Doctor looked over at Ace and noticed that she was looking a bit uncomfortable. The Doctor then whispered in her ear while holding her hand, "Don't worry, Ace. I've been to quite a few village celebrations in my lifetimes. All we have to do is show up, eat some food, and maybe join in the lively dancing. Then we'll be shown our own accommodations to sleep in for the night and we'll be off in the morning. There's nothing to worry about," he stated in his most comforting tone.

Ace seemed a bit more reassured by this and smiled slightly at the Doctor. He lightly tweaked her nose and, holding her hand, let the locals lead the way. As he and Ace were walking along, he thought to himself, oh dear, this should be interesting.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

The sun was beginning to set as they made their way into the Je'Duan village. The village consisted of only about ten huts of varying shapes and sizes, with a large fire pit, what Jular referred to as a community hearth. The villagers had already gathered there, where they were cooking food, talking and drinking happily. Upon Jular and his group's arrival to the central gathering place, the talking stopped abruptly and everyone looked curiously at the Doctor and Ace. Well, so far so good, thought Ace. They don't look angry at us being here, just curious.

"My friends," Jular announced excitedly, "please welcome our honored guests, the Doctor and his mate, Ace. They are here to celebrate with us tonight. Thesa," Jular motioned toward a young woman sitting nearby, "please show Ace to your hut and find her something of yours she can borrow for this evening."

"Certainly, brother," Thesa replied happily and quickly got up and led Ace over to her hut. Jular looked over at the Doctor and said, "You must feel quite warm in those layers of clothing. Please make yourself comfortable. The evenings are quite warm here.

"Thank you, Jular." The Doctor decided he might as well look casual for this balmy evening outdoors. He took off his brown suit jacket, his question mark sweater, his tie, and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt. He took off his hat and placed his brolly on the ground nearby as he sat down around the community hearth. While the villagers proceeded to eat and drink merrily, the Doctor decided to sample a bit of fruit and some sweet tasting drink, which he quickly realized had some type of mild alcohol in it. He glanced over towards the hut that Ace and Jular's sister had entered about fifteen minutes ago. I wonder how Ace is getting on with Thesa's wardrobe choices, he pondered as his eyes twinkled in amusement.

About a minute later, Thesa walked out of the hut. Next came Ace and the Doctor had to do a double take. She looked stunning in a turquoise flowing skirt and matching beaded shirt. As Ace's eyes locked with the Doctor's, he gave her a brilliant smile. She smiled back, feeling relieved that he appreciated how she looked. That's odd, Ace thought as she walked over towards him. In these five years I've been traveling with him, I've never cared this much about what he'd think about how I looked.

Ace sat down next to the Doctor and one of the villagers passed her a plate full of fruit and meat along with a glass of a sweet smelling drink. The Doctor leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Love the outfit". He smiled gently at her and she smiled back shyly, her cheeks flushing slightly. The Doctor noticed her flush and at that moment, he thought she looked quite lovely. She's got such a natural beauty, he thought as he gazed at her out of the corner of his eyes. She really is quite a remarkable companion. Ace also noticed how casually the Doctor was dressed and had to admit that it was a good look on him. It somehow made him look younger and a bit handsome. Now where did that handsome bit come from, she asked herself.

During the meal and even after everyone was done eating, the Doctor had entertained Jular and his people with some of his and Ace's more hilarious moments from their adventures. Before she knew it, it was already night. A band began to play some lively music and the villagers each got up in pairs to dance. Ace thought the music sounded familiar, like a cross between Reggae and Latin music. Jular, who had been sitting next to the Doctor, turned to him and asked, "How long have you been mated to Ace?"

The Doctor, knowing that this question had been coming, was ready for a truthful sounding response. "Ace and I have been traveling with each other for about five years, but only recently have we realized our feelings of love and affection toward one another." Ace breathed a small sigh of relief at the Doctor's response. She wasn't sure exactly how she would've replied if Jular had asked her that question.

"I figured as much, my friend. Both of you seem comfortable with each other, but it does not seem as though you have consummated your relationship yet." It was at this point that the Doctor quickly glanced over at Ace, who was blushing furiously. "It is quite fortuitous that you both have arrived on this night. I will now leave you two alone to enjoy the dancing and, later on, you may sleep together in the hut over there, directly across from us. Feel free to leave any time in the morning, but please stop by to see me before you go, so one of my men can lead you back to the beach where your ship is."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Jular", the Doctor said amiably. Ace also nodded and smiled at Jular, just glad that he believed what the Doctor had said and also relieved that these villagers turned out to be peaceful people.

"Well, Ace, I say it's about time we joined in with the crowd and danced. What do you say?" the Doctor asked as he stood up and offered his hand to her.

"I'm game, Professor," Ace replied eagerly. This will be interesting, she thought. I've never seen him dance nor danced with him before. As soon as they walked over to the dance area, the band began playing another fast paced tune. The Doctor seemed to move quite well to the music. Neither of them knew the dance steps that the villagers were using, but that didn't matter. To their surprise and delight, they were dancing quite well together. It was as if her body responded instinctively to the way his moved.

As they were dancing, it seemed to Ace as if they were the only two people in the dance area. She found herself gazing into the Doctor's sparkling blue grey eyes, feeling quite content and happy. It was as if dancing with him was the most natural thing for her to do.

The Doctor likewise had a content smile on his face as he enjoyed dancing with his companion. As he gazed into Ace's beautiful brown eyes, he realized that, in his current incarnation, he wanted to travel with no one else but her. He thanked Rassilon every day that she stayed with him. No matter what adventures came their way, she was always very resilient. He wondered what he would do once she'd leave, as all companions invariably did one way or another. He decided, though, to put those negative thoughts out of his mind, if just for a little while. Tonight was about Ace and her happiness.

All too soon the music stopped, only to be replaced by a song with a slower melody. As the Doctor held Ace closer, she leaned her head on his shoulder, just reveling in the feeling of dancing with him. He likewise just let himself enjoy the feel of her in his arms.

The villagers had, throughout the evening, gone on to their respective huts, leaving the guests of honor their own private little dance area. The band had consisted of about five people at the start, but, for this slow tune, only one man stayed. He played away on a type of guitar style musical instrument. The fire in the community hearth had died down quite a bit, leaving the stars and full moon to light the center of the village and the dance area.

Their slow dancing gradually turned into gentle swaying to the music. It was then that Ace lifted her head from his shoulder to look into his eyes. When she did, she was amazed at what she saw. The firelight and moonlight were reflected in his mesmerizing blue gray eyes. She knew she was staring with awe, but couldn't help herself. She was captivated by him.

The Doctor also couldn't help but stare into Ace's beautiful brown eyes, that showed so much trust and faith in him. He was about to ask what she saw in his eyes that was causing her to continue to stare, but then he caught sight of something else in her eyes. It was something he had never seen before. Perhaps it had been there for some time, but had gone unnoticed. As she continued to gaze at him, he saw so much love for him, a love that seemed without end, without any preconditions. He was so taken aback by the pureness of it that he momentarily forgot to breathe.

Perhaps it was the alcoholic drink that had made Ace remove the wall she normally put up to prevent him from seeing just how much she loved him. She really didn't care at this point. All that mattered in the here and now was that he realized how she really felt. To her surprise and relief, he wasn't backing away. Although they had stopped dancing minutes ago, he was still holding her, allowing her to have this quiet moment of just gazing into his eyes. It was at that moment that she saw something in his eyes she had never seen before. Perhaps he also had finally torn down his own wall protecting his true feelings. She saw love for her in his eyes. She was so taken aback by this revelation, that she momentarily forgot to breathe.

"Ace, I…" the Doctor said in a low voice, almost a whisper. Should he dare say the words that he had hardly let himself think during all this time that she had been traveling with him.

"Doctor, I…" Ace began at the same time, also in a low voice. She didn't know if she should say the words she had been thinking of in the back of her mind for the past few years she had been traveling with him. This man had become her life, her home. She didn't want to do or say anything that would mess it up, but she realized they had reached a crossroads. They could continue on the way they had been, as the best of friends with only mild harmless flirting at times. Or they could choose this new, enticing path and see what happens.

The Doctor gently placed his hand on her cheek. "My Ace," he said with tenderness. Ace's heart began to beat even faster. Oh my God, he's going to kiss me, she thought in shock and excitement as he leaned in closer.

All of a sudden, the Doctor looked up towards the way they had initially come into the village, as if he had heard something. Ace looked in that direction, and then they both saw what he had heard seconds before. She could make out multiple shadows, in the shape of humanoids, walking slowly and stealthily out from the edge of the forest. The Doctor tensed, took Ace's hand and began to lead her back towards where his jacket and other items were.

The intruders then increased their pace and began firing their weapons at all of the huts. The weapons' discharge of energy caused each of the huts to shimmer and disappear, along with the villagers. The Doctor immediately recognized the weapons. They're portable transportation devices, he thought to himself. He and Ace were just a few steps from his jacket and sonic screwdriver, before one of the intruders fired their weapon at them. Before they knew what had hit them, the Doctor and Ace were transported away.

Ace slowly awoke to the low, urgent sound of the Doctor's voice calling her name and the feel of his hand gently shaking her shoulder. As she came to, she felt movement from the floor, as if it was gently rocking back and forth. Feeling a bit nauseous from the movement, and grateful that the lighting was dim, she asked in a slightly shaky voice, "Where are we, Professor?"

"We were transported straight into this cell. It would seem that we're on a type of seafaring vessel," the Doctor replied, his curiosity slightly over weighing his annoyance at this unexpected turn of events. How Ace was feeling did not go unnoticed by him, though. "How are you feeling? Do you have motion sickness?", he asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I've never been on a boat before," she said as she leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes tight in an attempt to focus on not getting sick.

He gently squeezed her hand and wished for the fifth time, since being transported here, that he had been able to grab his sonic screwdriver and jacket. He didn't even have anything to pick the lock to the door with. He got up from the floor and walked the few steps it took to reach the door, which only had a small square window up near the top of it. No light filtered in from it, though. The lock itself looked simple enough to pick. If only he had a hair pin or that handy lock pick that Marie Antoinette had given him back during one of his earlier incarnations.

Ace's eyes snapped open as the cell door opened slowly to reveal the last person Ace or the Doctor would have ever suspected, Jular. Looking a bit scared, but determined, Jular stated, "Well, what are you waiting for? Do you not know a jail break when you see one?"

The Doctor chuckled to himself momentarily while thinking that he had heard that line before from a famous Earth science fiction film. "Of course, thank you, Jular. Come on, Ace." The Doctor quickly walked over to where she was sitting and helped her to her feet.

As they walked out of the area where all the other cells were, he and Ace noticed that all of the villagers were standing near stairs, which apparently led up to the command deck of the ship. Concerned with the ease of their escape, the Doctor asked Jular, "How were you and the others able to get out? Have you seen our captors?"

Jular gazed apprehensively up towards the command deck and whispered to the Doctor, "My sister, Thesa, luckily had a hairpin that I used to unlock our door. We then crept along to the other cells and rescued everyone else. I've talked to my people and they all say the same thing. They were unconscious upon being transported here, so no one has seen our captors. We haven't even heard anybody speaking from the deck above. Unfortunately, I haven't any clue why all of us were taken and whose ship this is. None of our people have ships this grand. Of course, a ship this size could belong to one of the tribes from the east, I suppose. That wouldn't make any sense, though, because we have no quarrel with them. Kidnapping isn't their style either. Could the people who captured us be after you, Doctor?"

"Given my extensive history, Jular, anything's possible. If they, whoever 'they' are, were just after me, why did they go to the trouble of transporting everyone from the village? Why not just transport myself and Ace? Hmm, there are too many questions here and I intend to find some answers. Do you feel well enough to join me, Ace?"

"Oh, you know me, Professor. It's gonna take more than a little motion sickness to keep me away from all the excitement," she stated in a determined and stronger voice than she had earlier. Her adrenaline must be kicking in now, the Doctor thought to himself as he gave Ace a small smile of encouragement. He made a mental note to carry something in his jacket to counteract the effects of motion sickness in case they were ever in a similar situation again. For about the tenth time since their capture, the Doctor wished that he had a chance to grab his sonic screwdriver and jacket before being transported away. He felt a bit vulnerable without them, but he had been in worse situations before. He could make do this one time without those items.

"Right, now Ace and I will have a quick look around above deck. Jular, you and the others stay here for the time being while I determine who or what it is that we're dealing with." Jular nodded his head in agreement and went about the task of making sure the others stayed calm and quiet. Taking her hand in his and grabbing the stair rail with the other, the Doctor and Ace silently made their way up the stairs to the command deck.

Except for a few stars visible through the partly cloudy night sky, there was no lighting on the command deck. Ace felt a shiver run down her back at just how desolate the ship felt. Upon first gazing at the command deck, with all the trappings of a ship straight out of the 1700's, she had prepared herself to come face to face with pirates. She had not expected it to be deserted of its crew.

"Just like the Mary Celeste," the Doctor said softly to himself as he stood at the ship's helm, gazing out towards the distance. Ace, who had been gazing at the ship's sails and crow's nest wondering if anybody could be hiding up there, looked back towards the Doctor. She was about to ask him about the reference he had made, when all of a sudden, they heard gut wrenching screams coming from down below. The screams ended just as quickly as they had begun.

Ace started to run toward the stairs, but the Doctor called out in a commanding voice, "No, Ace! Stay where you are!" Perplexed, Ace looked up as the Doctor walked quickly towards her and placed a hand firmly around her arm and led her away from the stairs. He had a look on his face that was one of fear mixed with total bafflement. She realized that, on some gut level, he knew that she would've been killed if she had gone down those stairs. She also realized that he didn't know why he knew that or what exactly had killed those people. She wondered why the thing that had killed them hadn't just come up the stairs and tried to kill her and the Doctor, but the complete silence and her instincts told her that the thing was no longer down there.

"Doctor, how do you know Jular and the others are dead? Could they just be seriously wounded and need our help?", Ace whispered, hoping that she was right. The air had become oppressively silent since the abrupt end of those screams and it felt wrong to speak in a voice louder than a whisper at the moment. A few tears slid down her cheeks at the thought that Jular, his sister, and the other villagers had died horribly.

"Oh, Ace, how I wish that were the case," he sighed in exasperation as he looked towards the stairs with a mixture of fear and confusion. He turned to her, a look of sorrow on his face, and gently wiped away her tears with his hand. He then turned slightly away from her and looked out in the distance. "What in Rassilon is going on here? Nothing about this feels real, which is odd because when we were in the cell and even outside of the cell with the others, it felt like we were really on a ship. Everything seemed authentic. Up here on the command deck, though, there's a sense of wrongness. All of the trappings, from the wheel to the ropes and sails feel authentic. The sky and the air feel wrong," he stated as he slowly walked around, deep in thought with his hand on his chin. He then peered down at the water from the starboard side of the ship. "Even the water doesn't feel right." He continued his slow pacing as he tried to work out this mystifying predicament.

Ace knew better than to question him while he was deep in thought like this and talking out loud to himself. She walked to the aft of the ship and leaned against the side in order to get a better look at the water. She wasn't sure what he had meant when he said that the water didn't 'feel right'. It looked like the right color for the ocean at night. It is quite still, though, she thought to herself as she noticed the absence of any waves. She could make out nothing as she gazed out towards the horizon. Though, with just a few stars out, it was difficult to see if there was anything in the distance.

Out of the blue, she heard the loud creaking of wood. Before she could register that the sound was coming from the part of the ship she was leaning against, she felt the side give way and she began to fall. "Doctor!" Luckily she grabbed onto a bit of rope that just happened to be dangling on the side and that she had not noticed before. She felt the pain of rope burn on her hands as she clung onto it for dear life, while trying to find some type of foot hold. It was no use, as the entire side of the ship was made of smooth wood.

"Ace!". After a moment, she saw the Doctor peering over the side, fear and then relief on his face as he saw her holding onto the rope. "Hold on, Ace. I'll pull you up." As he went to grab for the rope, it vanished out of thin air. As in slow motion, he saw the shock register on her face and then the fear as she fell into the water. Without thought, he jumped in after her.

Ace couldn't believe the rope had vanished like that. She had just enough time to hold her breath as she fell feet first into the cool water. Glad that the water wasn't freezing, she began to make her way back up to the water's surface. The Doctor jumped in right then and put an arm around her waist to help her quickly reach the surface. She was relieved for his help, as she started to feel the strain of holding her breath without having had enough time to take a deep enough breath to hold before falling in.

They were only about three feet from the water's surface when they saw the ship catch on fire. Ace, though, continued to make her way to the surface, but the Doctor pulled her back down, just as flames started to make their way over the surface of the water. The Doctor didn't have time to wonder what the hell was on the water's surface that was attracting the flames, as he knew there was no oil on the ship. The strangeness of all of these events was completely baffling, even to his mind. He was glad for the light put off by the flames, as he could now clearly see Ace's face. Immediately, he noticed that Ace was panicking and pointing to her mouth.

Without a second thought, he held her face with both of his hands and closed his lips around her mouth, breathing air into her body. He then opened a telepathic link to her mind and mentally projected in a calm voice, "Ace, trust me. I'm able to breathe for both of us for a time. Are you alright?"

Ace started to shake her head in the affirmative, but then thought that if she could hear him, then he should be able to hear her. With concentration, she mentally projected to him, "Yeah, thanks! I couldn't have held out for much longer." On one level, she was grateful that her best friend was here with her to help deal with all these weird events. On another level, one she hoped he wouldn't be able to pick up on at the moment, she realized that this was their 'first kiss'. Although it was something he had to do in order to help her breathe, their lips were still touching. Everything was so surreal, from the way he was holding her face to the way she had her arms wrapped around him. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before he mentally projected to her, "The flames have disappeared from the surface and the ship. I suspect that someone or something is playing with us in this farce of an environment."

"You had mentioned earlier that things didn't feel right to you. Where are we really, Doctor?," Ace mentally projected back to him, as she felt a growing sense of uneasiness .

"I have reason to suspect that we are in a holographic simulation room and that we are being observed."

Making sure Ace was able to hold her breath for a bit longer, the Doctor separated his lips from hers and they swam up toward the water's surface. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a total surprise for the ship to appear untouched by flames when it had been on fire just a few minutes ago. For the Doctor and Ace, though, they were fast getting used to things not being all that they appeared to be. They climbed the ship's rope ladder, which just happened to appear on the side they were nearest to.

Back on the command deck, the Doctor decided on the direct approach in order to deal with their elusive captors. He spoke loudly in an authoritative voice while glancing every few seconds in each direction, "I am the Doctor and this is Ace. I demand that you show yourselves to us and inform us of the reason you are keeping us locked up in this holographic simulation room. I also demand that you tell us what happened to our friends."

Ace waited in anticipation for some sort of a response from their captors or for some kind of a hidden door to open up. The Doctor, likewise, looked around the 'room', becoming more annoyed as the moments ticked by with no response.

Ace, deciding to leave nothing to chance, leaned carefully over the aft side of the ship to look down at the water. "Doctor!", she yelled out as she quickly backed away from the railing in fright.

"Ace, what is it? What did you see?", he asked in a concerned voice as he walked up to her.

"They're in the water, Doctor. Jular and the others are floating dead on the water," she said in a slightly shaky voice filled with shocked disbelief. The villagers had frozen expressions of fear and their eyes were open. Ace took the Doctor's hand and led him over to the side of the ship to look down at the water. When they both looked down, the bodies were gone. "They were just here! What in the hell is going on here? Why are they doing this to us!", Ace yelled out in anger mixed with fear.

"Ace, remember that none of this is real. Our captors seem to enjoy showing us things or making things happen just to see what our reaction will be. We will get out of this," he replied in a determined voice as he enveloped Ace in a hug.

She hugged him back tight, as her head rested on his shoulder. I won't break down now. I have to be strong, Ace repeated to herself as she began to feel the sting of tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. She had seen her share of death before, but it was the shock of seeing the villagers' lifeless bodies that had made her momentarily lose control of her fear and anger. I wonder how long we've been in this 'room'. It feels like hours, she thought to herself. It seems like ages ago that I was dancing with the Professor. I wonder if he would've really kissed me. Ace quickly pushed that thought down. Now was not the time to be thinking of that. It's just that she felt so warm and safe in his arms. Wait a minute…warm. It wasn't her imagination. The air was getting cooler. "Doctor, it's getting cold in here," she said in a concerned voice as she began to shiver slightly.

He hugged her closer to him as he replied in a voice filled with concern and annoyance at their situation, "Yes, I noticed this new twist to our environment in here." He stepped back slightly from her, looked her in the eyes, and stated with a look that told her that he had just come up with a plan to get them out of here. "Ace, it's quite possible that 'they' can hear what we're saying. That leaves me with one option." He gazed into her eyes in a silent question. She knew what he would need to do again. In order to communicate his plan to her, he would have to open a telepathic link with her again. She nodded her head in the affirmative. He gave her a small smile of reassurance and placed his hands on her temples. She then heard his voice in her head. "Remember when I had said earlier that everything below deck felt real. That's because it's not part of this holographic simulation room. It's the archway into this room, which means that the door is located somewhere below deck. Also, our captors made us not want to go back down the stairs. We had heard the screams of the villagers. Then, something had told me there was danger down there and I had kept you from going down those stairs."

Ace nodded her head slightly in agreement and mentally projected back to him, "Yeah, I agree that we have to go back down there. Without your sonic screwdriver, though, how are you going to open the door once we find it?"

"Before we had left Jular and the others, he had quickly passed his sister's hairpin to me. I thought it might come in handy later. Based on how simple it was for Jular to pick the lock on the cell doors, it should be simple enough to pick the lock on the main door." he mentally projected to her in a confident sounding voice. She gave him a small smile of encouragement, her eyes filled with determination as she shivered again from the slightly decreasing temperature. He then ended the telepathic link, took her hand, and led her down the stairs.

The dim overhead lighting of the cell area produced all sorts of shadows, which made Ace feel uneasy, although the Doctor had told her that the villagers' screams hadn't been real. He hadn't explained what he thought had happened to the villagers, though. Where had the villagers been transported to? Were they going through the same things as she and the Doctor or something much worse? Pushing those very unsettling thoughts aside for the time being, she focused on following the Doctor past the cells toward the back of the room.

Before the Doctor could even begin touching the wall to feel if there were any hidden door panels, a glowing outline of a door began to materialize on the wall. Once the door had fully materialized, it began to open. Bright white light emitted from the door, making it virtually impossible to make out the features of who was standing at the threshold. All she and the Doctor could make out was the shadow of a humanoid figure holding a weapon that was aimed at them.

In the bright light that emitted from the door, the Doctor had a difficult time of making out the features of their captor. He did recognize the weapon to actually be a transportation device. Time for the diplomatic approach, he thought to himself. Slowly moving in front of Ace, he stated in a calm voice, "Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Ace. Where are we and why are we being kept here?"

The humanoid figure lowered its weapon slightly, apparently not too worried that the Doctor and Ace would try to escape at the moment. The light from outside the room dimmed to reveal a Je'Duan. This person can't be one of the villagers, Ace thought to herself as she moved from behind the Doctor to stand at his side. From the Doctor's surprised expression, she could tell that this person wasn't who he was expecting.

"You're a Je'Duan, correct?", the Doctor asked, as Ace could virtually see the wheels spinning in his head as he worked to piece together this mystery.

The Je'Duan, a male who looked paler than the villagers, stared at the Doctor and Ace with a look of disgust as he declared, "I am not one of those Je'Duan peasants who live in the western lands. I am Lugo, of the Maetso Tribe in the east. I am responsible for bringing you and the peasants to this ship. The Zohnuz had arrived at my camp last night and would have taken me and my people, but I struck a deal with them. I said that I would help them get as many of the other tribes to observe as they needed, so long as they didn't take any of my people. It was unfortunate that you happened to be with the peasants last night. I have no quarrel with you, but the Zohnuz wanted as many specimens as possible for their studies. The pair of you have given them much to talk about, even more so than the peasants."

"What's happened to Jular and the others, Lugo?", the Doctor cut in, his voice taking on that calculating, authoritative edge, which Ace knew meant the Oncoming Storm was on the horizon. His concern for the villagers overrode his urge to go into a tirade and yell at Lugo for selling out his own people to other aliens for observational purposes.

Lugo continued without answering the Doctor's question and seemed oblivious or unconcerned by the Doctor's growing anger. "The Zohnuz are quite fascinated by you Doctor, as well as you, Ace. They are quite curious to observe the relationship of a Time Lord and a Human. I, on the other hand, am quite looking forward to observing the more 'physical' aspects of your relationship," Lugo smugly replied as his eyes ran up and down Ace's body.

Ace looked at Lugo in disgust and decided on the quick and direct approach to deal with this scumbag. Before the Doctor could reply, Ace punched Lugo in the face. The force of her right hook sent Lugo sprawling to the ground as he fell on the transportation device he had been carrying.

"Nice shot, Ace", the Doctor replied as his finger quickly touched her nose affectionately. She smiled at him and before she could respond, he murmured, "No, I don't believe that will suffice any more." He gazed lovingly into her eyes as one of his hands gently touched her cheek. "Oh Ace, I'm sorry that we've kept getting interrupted before I've had the opportunity."

"The opportunity for what," she murmured back, as she felt herself falling into his serene blue grey eyes.

"This," he whispered as he leaned in to gently kiss her lips. Her hands touched the base of his neck as he wrapped his arms securely around her. He deepened the kiss, showing her all of his love for her that mere words could not describe. To Ace, time seemed to stand still and everything else around them seemed to disappear. A part of her couldn't believe that he was finally and truly kissing her. The other part of her couldn't believe how natural this felt.

The Doctor knew that now really wasn't the best time for such a romantic gesture. He knew that if he didn't seize the opportunity now, then he would regret it if, Rassilon forbid, something did happen to either of them. A part of him was truly amazed that she would love him in this way. The other part of him, though, found amazement in the thought of how natural this felt. Slowly, and with regret, he ended their kiss. She still had her eyes closed and he took the opportunity to gently kiss her forehead. She opened her eyes and grinned at him in awe, as if she had never had any idea he could have kissed like that. Well, I suppose she wouldn't have had any idea about my abilities in that area, he thought to himself as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

He then crouched next to Lugo, moved his unconscious form to the side, and picked up the transportation device. Standing back up, he examined the device briefly, becoming familiar with all the buttons on it. "Now then, let's go find the villagers and have a little 'chat' with these Zohnuz," he stated with that look of confident determination in his steel blue grey eyes that Ace knew meant 'game on'.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

As Ace thought back on the past hour, she was amazed at how smoothly everything had worked out. After she and the Doctor had escaped from the holographic projection room, they had come to another holographic projection room where Jular and the others were being held. It turned out that they had not been harmed at all, just merely extremely confused by the holographic environment they had been locked into. After she, the Doctor, and the villagers made it up to the command deck, they were surprised that they were still on the planet on a good sized space ship that was floating on the ocean.

The Doctor had been able to speak with the Zohnuz and work out a peaceful solution, after he had threatened to report them to the Shadow Proclamation, as well as listing Lugo as their accomplice. The two Zohnuz, as it turned out, were teenagers in their own culture, who had decided to steal their parents' ship to go out on a 'scientific expedition' to observe humanoid species. When Ace had first gotten a look at their 'captors', she was surprised that they looked like human sized grasshoppers. Suffice to say, the Zohnuz had never dealt with a Timelord before and were soon apologizing profusely to the Doctor for the trouble they had caused.

Soon thereafter, a couple of the villagers had dragged an embarrassed looking Lugo to the command deck. Lugo had not even been able to look the Doctor, Ace, or the villagers in the eyes. He had hung his head in shame while the Doctor ordered him to apologize to the villagers and to Ace. As it turns out, Lugo was also still a teenager, although he looked a bit mature for his age. Jular decided to be the one to take Lugo back to his family in the east and inform Lugo's family of what had happened. After that matter was settled, the Doctor used the portable transportation device to send Jular, Lugo, and the other Je'Duans back to their village.

Before the Doctor and Ace departed, though, the Doctor received a promise from the Zohnuz that they would never again do something this foolhardy. The Doctor, after getting a sense that these two Zohnuz could be trusted to keep their word, informed them that he would not report them to the Shadow Proclamation. The Zohnuz had graciously thanked the Doctor and, after saying their farewells, had transported he and Ace back to the village.

"Were you really going to report them to this Shadow Proclamation place, Professor?"

"Not at all, Ace. I just said that to drive the point home that what they had done was illegal by interstellar law, not to mention highly immoral. I don't foresee them visiting this planet again."

The sun was just rising as Ace and the Doctor had made it back to the village, with all of the huts and villagers back where they belonged. All of the villagers came up to the Doctor and Ace, shaking hands with them and letting them know how grateful they were for being rescued. The Doctor then picked up his jacket and other garments, along with his sonic screwdriver. After the Doctor and Ace said their goodbyes to the group, Jular led them back through the woods to the beach. As they approached the Tardis, Jular stated, with relief, as he shook the Doctor's hand, "Doctor, thank the goddess that you and Ace just happened to be in our village at the right time. I don't know how we would have gotten out of that unfortunate mess without your help,".

"No thanks are needed, Jular. It's all part of the job. This day actually went quite smoothly compared with our previous adventures," the Doctor replied with a grin.

Jular just shook his head and smiled, as he invited them to come back to the village anytime. The Doctor and Ace waved farewell, Ace grabbed her beach bag, and they entered the Tardis. "I'm so glad to be home! I'm gonna go grab a shower and get changed," Ace stated with relief. As she started to walk out of the console room, she turned around to face the Doctor and said in a lighthearted voice, "Oh, and next time we go to a beach, let's go to one that has some type of security that'll prevent aliens from transporting us away."

"Quite right, Ace. I'll find us just the right place where we won't be _interrupted_," he replied as he gazed at her with twinkling eyes and a knowing grin on his face.

Blushing from his reply, she smiled lovingly at him and said, "Go ahead and begin searching for just the right place. I'll be back in a bit." She then made her way to her room.

The Doctor watched her depart. He knew he should feel apprehensive about this huge step in their relationship, but he didn't. He felt at peace with it, knowing that this was just a natural progression for them. He went to the console and thought about where they should travel. Wherever their next destination happened to be, he was ready for the adventure to follow.

**Fin**


End file.
